WP Howhttp://wphow.org
Showing you how to use WordPressSun, 13 Aug 2017 12:23:25 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.130462508wordpress.com now allows any plugin or theme and you can sell stuff WTF!http://wphow.org/wordpress-com-now-allows-plugin-theme-wtf/
Thu, 10 Aug 2017 06:03:03 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3774Well I can’t believe it, wordpress.com has now put all web hosting companies on notice that they are coming to get them! Here is the official blog post announcing support for third part plugins and themes. In the past I used to explain that the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org was that you could only use a […]

In the past I used to explain that the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org was that you could only use a limited number of plugins or themes on wordpress.com and you couldn’t sell anything there. That has now changed completely, well for the top plan anyway, the Business plan.

The wordpress.com Business plan in a nustshell

As of time of writing this blog post the business plan costs $AUD 33.35 / month and is paid annually so that’s $AUD 399 per year.

Secret bonus 1 – VaultPress backups included in wordpress.com business ( I think)

Real time VaultPress backups appear to be included. I have access to a wordpress.com business account and it has vaultpress connected with no other charges other than the business plan so that is a bargain if you get the hosting and backup service all of the one price.

Secret bonus 2 – Easy to setup eCommerce store out of the box

Looks like they are also rolling out a competitor to shopify with easy to setup ecommerce stores right from the get go. Only available to United States and Canada for now but hopefully that will get to other countries sooner than later.

What does this mean for us?

Well what we now have is a premium hosting option which costs $AUD 33.95 per website that offers:

wordpress core files automatically updated

vaultpress backups (the best money can buy in my opinion)

use whatever plugins or themes you want to.

sell products within the wordpress.com ecosystem which should be safer

Ok that’s all shiny and exiting but what are the negatives?

Cost per website

If you have a lot of websites then its an expensive option compared to using regular web hosting that allows many domains on one account ,

No ftp / sftp access

Also you won’t be able to access the website via ftp to play around with files etc which to me is not really an issue as most of the time you are going in to repair something using ftp but I wouldn’t expect wordpress.com to need repairing

Website speed is an unknown quantity

Not sure how being on servers with a lot of other websites is going to go.

Will really depends on the density of websites wordpress.com are allowing but its got to be better than the ultra cheap hosting companies who overload the servers and have ip blacklist issues left right and centre.

Server location could be outside the country the website is servicing so it sucks a bit for SEO (unless you live in the USA of course)

ip address of wordpress.com servers

So this website is an Australian website using the business plan but its server(s) are in the USA which means slower speeds and less SEO value from a local perspective.

No built in email service – its extra like fries and a coke

gsuite option within the wordpress.com business dashboard

So that means you need to get a g suite account for $AUD 5.50 per user per month. At least its easy to setup they do all of the coding geekery for you if you buys it within your account.

Also I only use G Suite and have done for years, its a far better option than using the free email accounts provided with normal web hosting as its a pain in the butt everytime you want to change hosting. If you have a g suite account those emails will be with you wherever you go forever. And of course there are all the other benfits of g suite like document creations and file storage.

I LOVE G Suite so this is not actually a negative for me but worth keeping in mind while planning a move to the wordpress.com business plan setup.

And finally here is the official video announcing the support for plugins and themes on the WordPress.com Business plan for you viewing pleasure

]]>3774Using Moodle (LMS) and WordPress (CMS) to sell online training (eCommerce)http://wphow.org/using-moodle-lms-wordpress-cms-sell-online-training-ecommerce/
Wed, 19 Jul 2017 02:55:04 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3695Why use 2 systems? WordPress = Shareable Content + eCommerce So here’s the thing WordPress is an open source Content Management System (CMS) which is great at 2 things in particular: Content delivery whether its standard pages or blog posts is in WordPress’s dna and it’s been there since it began. eCommerce is now also […]

WordPress = Shareable Content + eCommerce

So here’s the thing WordPress is an open source Content Management System (CMS) which is great at 2 things in particular:

Content delivery whether its standard pages or blog posts is in WordPress’s dna and it’s been there since it began.

eCommerce is now also super reliable and versatile days thanks to plugins like WooCommerce with a whole ecosystem of tools and backed by Automattic the company owned by the founder of WordPress

Now with all of that going on why add a 3rd task to the daily grind of course management which required a tonne of resources to do quizzes and keep track of users and password resets etc . What you will get is a range of plugins built to strap on to the side of WordPress rather coming from its primary capabilities.

Moodle = Course delivers + user management

Enter Moodle which has been a free Learning Management System or LMS from day 1, and has been used by schools, universities and all other variants of training institutions to delivery training, manager users do quizzes and generally kick ass in delivery educational materials.

Its only real problem is that it doesn’t have eCommerce built in, and yes I know there are some coders out there who have changed the code to do so but that is fraught with danger as upgrading is nearly impossible without getting the coder back every time to do their magic. Also Moodle is not what you would call a great blogging platform that google loves for search indexing.

Solution = Play to their strengths and join forces

So what needs to happen is you find a Moodle host for example pukunui.com who have offices in Australia, Hong Kong and Malaysia in the Moodle hosting and training space.

Then you find a WordPress developer for example me The WP Guy to build a WordPress website with WooCommerce and integration tools that connect Moodle to WordPress.

One tool which has been working well for us of late is the Edwiser bundle which includes WooCommerce integration and Single Sign on which lets each user have one username and password for each system.

Big tip when connecting WordPress and Moodle

Not found in the instructions very obviously. Make sure that on the Moodle server in the Admin settings that you disable the Password policy because WordPress and Moodle uses different encryption techniques for passwords, And if we enable the password policy in Moodle, the password for the user from WordPress will be interpreted differently and what we found was that users were created in WordPress after their payments completed but then failed to be created on the Moodle side so people were cranky after paying and getting no access to courses.

Example of this very system in action

One of my clients uses this exact system right now very successfully, Mary Morel of Online Writing Training sells online courses using WooCommerce to take payments and Moodle to deliver the training. It has taken a lot of trial and error and working with Dom from Pukunui to get things working well but we finally got there once the fundamentals were all setup correctly so take your time and use the support systems in place if things are working correctly.

The types of online writing and grammar courses that Mary has running are as follows:

]]>3695How to completely turn off comments on a WordPress websitehttp://wphow.org/how-to-turn-off-comments-on-a-wordpress-website/
Sun, 16 Jul 2017 11:34:17 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3599The issue – you thought comments were turned off but they aren’t How many of you keep getting those annoying emails that there is yet another spam comment waiting for you to delete from you website even though you have the damn TURNED COMMENTS OFF already? Well that’s only half of the story there are […]

How many of you keep getting those annoying emails that there is yet another spam comment waiting for you to delete from you website even though you have the damn TURNED COMMENTS OFF already? Well that’s only half of the story there are a few more steps to really turn them off for good.

Not everyone wants to turn comments off, I get it

Yes I know that for a lot of websites comments are an important tool and create great conversations with the blog poster and more learning for all. But there are also a lot of people out there who don’t get a lot of real comments and 99% of the time its some clown wanting to put a link to their dodgy website

The solution – how to turn comments off permanently

Step 1 – Theme settings

A lot of themes these days have a setting to turn off comments and in some cases that’s enough and its like a master switch that hides all of the comment sections globally. The flip side is that its not enough in many cases so you still need to do the 2 steps below to really stop comments.

Step 2 – Settings – Discussion

Go to the left side of your WordPress admin area and look for Settings then in the submenu of settings there will be Discussion

There are a couple of key settings here to make sure that new posts don’t get the comments turned on by default and to also make sure that older posts get comments turned off.

Step 3 – individual post settings

This setting can derail the other settings and still allow comments to its key to turn it off too.

It would normally be down below the content area somewhere between where you add the content and the bottom of the page.

If you can’t find this it may not be being displayed. To check the Discussion settings is viewable via the Screen Options which is in the top right of the screen, click it to expand and see the settings.

Don’t forget to delete those old comments

You don’t want those spammers in your database so you should remove all of the old comments too.

You can do this with the Batch Actions tool at the top of the Comments page. This example is on the spam tab as I don’t have anything in the All tab but you get the idea. In the Spam tab you can just click on the Empty Spam button.

Bulk delete comments with a plugin

If you have ended up with an insane amount of comments to delete then a plugin is the way to go. You can google this but here is an oldie but a goodie, not updated for 2 years but worked last time I looked.

]]>3599How to setup online formshttp://wphow.org/how-to-setup-online-forms/
Thu, 01 Jun 2017 13:33:34 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3588 Online forms are real challenge these days for reliability and mobile friendly use etc. I would strongly recommend the use of a 3rd party software as a service form tool instead of the various free and paid WordPress form plugins available. The reason being there are a lot of emails sent from within website that […]

Online forms are real challenge these days for reliability and mobile friendly use etc.

I would strongly recommend the use of a 3rd party software as a service form tool instead of the various free and paid WordPress form plugins available.

The reason being there are a lot of emails sent from within website that never make it to your inbox. It could be the hosting but I’ve seen it happen on $20 per month to $500 per month hosting plans equally. Sending email is also using a lot of resources and gets in the way of what you want your website to do the most and that is deliver the content to people quickly.

]]>3588How to setup a startup websitehttp://wphow.org/setup-startup-website/
Tue, 15 Mar 2016 04:49:27 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3569This example is a website I recently setup for one of my passions, coffee roasting called The Breaded Roaster at http://beardedroaster.com A simple explanation of the layout is: Left side: – Title and tagline – Image of me that has been manipulated with a few photo apps on the left. Right side: – Brief explanation of […]

]]>3569Apple watch review by Tim Noonanhttp://wphow.org/apple-watch-review-tim-noonan/
Mon, 04 May 2015 02:08:23 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3560Excellent review of the Apple watch accessibility with Voiceover from a vision impaired perspective user. Tim Noonan from timnoonan.com.au has written and extensive blog post on the subject of Apple watch accessibility with voiceover. Voiceover is the apple screen reader tool that reads out aloud what is on the screen. Tim Noonan is based in […]

Voiceover is the apple screen reader tool that reads out aloud what is on the screen.

Tim Noonan is based in Sydney and has been working as a voice, sound, usability and accessibility consultant for over 20 years. During that time Tim has regularly been invited as an inspirational speaker to inform, inspire and entertain groups around Australia and abroad.

For individuals, Tim offers a unique range of personalised voice counselling, communications skills and life path coaching services, as well as Intuitive Voice Readings.

]]>3560Good domain name registration and web hosting companies – finally!http://wphow.org/good-domain-registration-web-hosting-companies-finally/
Mon, 20 Jan 2014 11:52:01 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3541Buying a domain name Its a minefield that’s for sure. Most domain companies are either a rip off or are so cheap that if you ever have a problem you will go insane dealing with the cheapest support staff on the planet. Until now I have not seen any company that gets it right. Enter […]

Its a minefield that’s for sure. Most domain companies are either a rip off or are so cheap that if you ever have a problem you will go insane dealing with the cheapest support staff on the planet. Until now I have not seen any company that gets it right.

Enter hover.com, they are very well prices and have good customer support. I have moved my domain names there and am very happy. They are based in Canada I believe.

I had a little trouble transferring some domain names and it was saying the transfer codes were incorrect but I found if I retried a few times and used the firefox browser it worked.

Yes you can also buy/transfer .com.au domains from them and finally get away from the dodgy or over priced domain name companies based in Australia.

Web hosting

Also a minefield as there are so many options now and everyone has a different recommendation for you. I have dealt with many and found very few that have the balance right for performance / cost / support.

I now only recommend hostgator.com and the Business plan is the best option which costs around $US15 or $AUD17.

It is a great option as you get your own IP address for that prices and a free SSL certificate included. Your own IP address means you won’t end up blacklisted because a porn site sets on the same shared server with the same IP address as you which can happen on shared hosting which is what most small businesses use.

]]>3541How to install Hello Bar Solo the Developers version of Hello Barhttp://wphow.org/how-to-install-hello-bar-solo/
Thu, 18 Apr 2013 03:19:44 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3485The hello bar has been a mini revolution since it hit the streets a short time ago. There are imitations of it out there now but I think its still one of the best tools you can use to increase interaction with your website visitors. Who is this post for? This post is specifically showing […]

]]>The hello bar has been a mini revolution since it hit the streets a short time ago. There are imitations of it out there now but I think its still one of the best tools you can use to increase interaction with your website visitors.

Who is this post for?

This post is specifically showing how to install and use the Developers version of Hello bar, Hello Bar Solo. If you want to use the client version please visit the main website. http://hellobar.com

What is a hello bar?

What’s so good about the developers version

As I write it is only $29 for unlimited sites which is incredible value for developers to offer a current tool for clients without any ongoing costs.

What’s the catch

The regular version is easier to install and tracks all kinds of stats which many clients will love.

You will have to do the styling yourself via css and read up on codes to use to perform different tasks. There is lots of good info on how to do all that on the developers page

How to install it

First you need to go and purchase the developers version Hello Bar Solo.

You will get a link to download the zip file in an email after your purchase is completed.

Unzip the file, it creates a folder called hellobar-solo but to confuse things you actually need to use a folder within this one with exactly the same name. So get the folder within the first one called hellobar-solo

upload the the folder and its contents where your theme is eg :http//website.com/wp-content/themes/yourtheme/

add this code to the header code area. (with headwaythemes.com theme for example you get there via Headway Options -> Scripts/Analytics) Here is a zip file with code below to insert to website below in case it doesn’t render correctly

new HelloBar( ‘<span>Read my pitch and then click on my</span> <a href=”#”>Call to Action!</a>’, {

showWait: 1000,

positioning: ‘sticky’,

fonts: ‘Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif’,

forgetful: true

}, 1.0 );

// ]]></script>

Now all you have to do us customise the message in the 2nd section and style the css via the css file in the folder you uploaded earlier.There are examples and the code needed to customise everything here – Hello Bar Solo.

]]>3485How to migrate a website the easy way using BackupBuddy Stashhttp://wphow.org/how-to-migrate-a-website-the-easy-way-using-backupbuddy-stash/
Tue, 27 Nov 2012 03:02:12 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3405The backupbuddy has long been used as a brilliant tool for transferring a website from one location to another. Now with the BackupBuddy Stash storage service it has made setting up a new website from a backup even easier and much faster than ever before. Previously you had to download a backup copy of a […]

]]>The backupbuddy has long been used as a brilliant tool for transferring a website from one location to another. Now with the BackupBuddy Stash storage service it has made setting up a new website from a backup even easier and much faster than ever before. Previously you had to download a backup copy of a website, then re-upload it to the new web hosting. Now the cloud based backup can be sent to the cloud based hosting without you needing to be the middle person anymore.

This can be needed for a number of reasons:

relocating to new web hosting

for web developers – moving a staging site to the live site url

rebuilding after a site has been compromised / hacked

restoring after the web host has lost a server (unusual but can happen especially if you bought it from a smaller operator)

Finally add the database name, username and password that you will need to create via the control panel of the Site B web hosting

]]>3405How setup Paypal to accept credit cardshttp://wphow.org/setup-paypal-to-accept-credit-cards/
Sat, 24 Nov 2012 04:08:49 +0000http://wphow.org/?p=3366(updated in 2017 with latest info / screenshots and links all work) Where to find that mysterious setting to allow people to buy from you without them needing to create a PayPal account. It is one of those things that drives me a little crazy as I can never remember off the top of my […]

]]>(updated in 2017 with latest info / screenshots and links all work)

Where to find that mysterious setting to allow people to buy from you without them needing to create a PayPal account. It is one of those things that drives me a little crazy as I can never remember off the top of my head where to change the settings. So for my benefit as much as yours I have laid it out below with screenshots and links to speed up the process.

By default it’s turned off would you believe so every single PayPal user needs to make this change in the setup stage.

Payment Data Transfer allows you to receive notification of successful payments as they are made. The use of Payment Data Transfer depends on your system configuration and your Return URL. Please note that in order to use Payment Data Transfer, you must turn on Auto Return.